accueilli. Tous fes parens lui etoient CHARLES THE FIFTH, DUKE OF LORRAINE, fucceeded 1675, not fo much to his uncle's dominions as to the hopes of being able to recover them. He was a molt excel lent General, and diftinguished himself very much in Hungary against the Turks, and in Lorraine againit Louis the XIVth. He was a Prince of great bravery, great honour, and great piety. He was fent for in a hurry by the Emperor Leopold (whofe coufin he had married) to command in an expedition against the Turks, but was taken ill on the road of a fever, of which he died. He wrote the following fhort Letter to the Emperor on his deathbed, which breathes the fentiments of a hero, a man, a Christian : << SIRE, "AUSSITOT que j'ai reçu vos ordres, je fus parti d'Infpruk pour me rendre à Vienne, mais je me trouve arreté ici par les ordres d'un plus grand maitre Je pars, et je vais lui rendre compte d'une vie que j'aurois confacrée à votre service. Souvenez-vous, Sire, que je quitte une femme qui vous touche, des enfans auxquels je ne laiffe que mon epée, et mes fujets dans l'oppreffion." This hero died at the age of forty-eight years only. His virtues were fo tranftendent, that when Louis XIV. heard of his death he said very nobly, "Le moindre qualité de Duc de Lorraine etoit cile du Prince. Je viens de perdre (en apprennant fa mort) le plus fage et le plus genereux de mes enemis." SARAH, DUCHESS OF MARLBorough. A fmall volume, 12mo. was published in Scotland, in 1788, with this title: "The Opinions of Sarah Duchefs Dowa VOL. XX. ger of Marlborough, published from original MSS. 1788. The Duchefs, it feems, in the latter part of her life, used to lie much in bed, with a pen and ink by her, and used to commit to paper what the idea of the moment fuggefted. The little book is divided into chapters, under diftin&t heads. Under that of "Life and Death" she says: 1737. I am a perfect cripple, and cannot poffibly hold out long; and as I have very little enjoyment of my life, I am very indifferent about it. It is impossible that one of my infirmities can live long; and one great happiness there is in death, that one fhall never hear any more of any thing they do in this world. "When I confider life 'tis all a cheat, " &c." verfes of Dryden which I think very pretty, and of which most people have felt the truth. "1738. I am fo weary of life, that I do not care how foon the ftroke is given to me, which I only with may be with as little pain as poffible. 66 1739. As to my own particular, I have nothing to reproach myfelf with; and I think it very improbable that I should live to fuffer what others will do who have contributed to the ruin of their country. I have always thought, that the greatest happinefs of life was to love and value fomebody extremely that returned it, and to fee them often; and if one has an eafy fortune, that is what makes one's life pafs away agreeably. But, alas! there is fuch a change in the world fince I knew it first, that though one's natural pleasure is to love people, the generality of the world are in fomething fo difagrecable that it is impoffible to do it; and, added to this, I am a cripple, lifted about like a child, and very feldom free from pain.', "KINGS. "1737. Were I a man, I freely own that I would not venture any thing that I could avoid for any King that I know or ever heard of. As Princes are not the beft judges of right and wrong, from the flattery they are ufed to, not to fay worfe of them, I think the best thing for them and the whole nation is, not to let them have power to hurt themfelves or any one else. A Gentleman of Sweden has given me an account of the laws of that country, and which they now enjoy ; but they did not compafs it till the King or Minifters had destroyed the country, and E made made it exceffive poor. I heartily with that may not be our cafe, or worse." "CARDINAL DE RETZ. 1739. His history is entertaining, because he has wit and fenfe; notwithftanding which. I muft confefs I do not like him much. For, if I were a man, I would not rebel to have the greatest employment any Prince could give me ; but if any tyrant broke the laws, and obliged me to draw the fword, I would never trim or fheath it till juftice was done to my country. I find in De Retz's Memoirs, that the Parliament, and people without doors, cried out violently: "No peace! no Mazarine !" and yet in the conclufion Mazarine got the better and enflaved France: and by the defcription De Retz makes of the Nobles, their taking bribes, being very fimple, and wholly bent on private intereft, they refemble very much our House of Lords." "Should any reader," fays the Editor of this little book, "entertain doubts as to the authenticity of this felection, the Editor cannot remove them, unless by an appeal to internal evidence; for there are infeparable objections to the depofiting of the originals either in a public library or with a bookfeller. The materials of which this little book is compofed are alphabetically digefted. Had the order of time been obferved, they would have borne the more familiar and pleating form of a Diary. In fome paffages the original is obfcure, and very often it is ungrammatical; for the Duchefs writes in colloquial English; a dialect not pure, however copious. As the original abounds in private hiftory, I might have gratified the prevailing tatte for Anecdotes with longer and more interesting transcripts. This, however, I have induftrioufly avoided." He was one of the few Frenchmen thas come to this kingdom who take any pains to learn the language of it. He applied indeed very diligently to it, and laboured very hard to procure a knowledge of our laws and conftitution. His famous pamphlet on the liberty of the Schelde was written in London. By the kindness of a person who ferved him as his Secretary in London, curiofity will be gratified with the following Letter, which is prefixed to a MS. grammar of the French language, which he compofed for the use of a young woman with whom he lived, and which is extremely well done; and the account of the declenfion of the partici. ples of the French language is quite new. A MA SOPHIE. "MA Sophie, tu te fouviens bien, que ta mere m'a écrit une fois pour me prier de t'appre..dre l'orthographie. Je ne fçais comment je negligéai une fi grave recommendation; apparemment que nous avions quelque chofe de plus preflee à etudier. Helas! il nous eft bien force des fufpendre nos études d'alors; il retournons donc aujourdui à l'orthographie (pour plaire ton honorée mere), mais je ne connois qu'un moyen d'ecrire correctement, c'eft de poffeder la langue par principes. J'ai entrepris de te donner en vingt cinq pages, toutes les regles eflentielles de la langue Françoife, de l'en expliquer toutes les difficultés, et de l'enoncer les exceptions principales d'une maniere auffi exacte que concife; et je crois avoir reuffi. Un petit Memoire de l'Abbé Valant *, habile Grammarien, m'en a donné l'idée, et m'a fervi; mais on ne trouve dans fon precis ni les principes de la declinaifon des participes (et c'est un des articles capitaux et des plus embaraflans de notre Grammaire), ni le conjugation entiere des verbes irregulieres, ni la fyntaxe de leurs regimes, ni aucune obfervation detaillée fur la prononciation, Forthographie, la punctuation, la quantité, &c. ni les exceptions aux regles generales. Mon traité, qui n'a pas quatre pages de plus que le fien, contient tout cela, j'cipere que tu le trouveras fort clair, et même a la portée des gens les plus illiterés, mais pente que je ne fais me faire entendre qu'aux efprits Abbé Valant was Profeffor of Humanity at the Royal Military School of Paris, and wrote many tracts upon the fubject of the Latin Grammar. He died in 1779This thort account of him is taken from the "Dictionaire Hiftorique ;" a book in praife of which too much cannot be faid. The best edition of it is that of 1789, in nine volumes, Svo. It is to be had at Mr. Elmfley's, in the Strand; and at M. de Boffe's, Gerrard fuset. attentifs. 1 attentifs. Ce Memoire et plus que fuffifant pour te mettre en etat de montrer toi-même le Francois par principes à ma fille. Les grammaires ne donnent pas le ftyle, mais i Gabriel, Sophie, a tow ame, elle trouvera aifement un Gabriel, ils s'aimeront comme nous nous aimons, et je te reponds qu'elle ecrira bien. C'eft pour elle que j'ai fait cet petit ouvrage, qui m'a couté du temps et de la peine; c'eft pour elle, dis-je, car pour toi, je ne me confolerois pas, fi tu allois confulter la grammaire fur un phrafe que tu me deitines ou que ne m'addreffes, ah! ce que ton cœur fait dire! L'art et l'efprit le trouveront ils jamais ? “GABRÍEL.” The MS. is entitled, "Abrégé complet de la Langue Françoife." The following lines are prefixed to it: "Ce commerce enchanteur, “Aimable epanchement de l'efprit et du " cœur, Cet art de converfer fans fe voir, fans "s'entendre, "Ce muet entretien, fi charmant et fi "tendre "L'art d'ecrire, fut fans doute inventé "Par l'amante captive, et l'amant agite." COLARDEAU. "En vain vous me frappez d'un fon << melodieux "Si la terme eft impropre, ou le tour " vicieux; "Mon efprit n'admet point un pompeux barbarifine, "Ni d'un vers empoulé l'orgueilleux "Sans la langue, en un mot, l'auteur le than refufe him one feat at it." With what avidity muit the public expect the Memoirs of this very extraordinary man, written by himself; a man who, though auto-didactic and ferò doctus, by the force and energy of a great mind never appears to have incurred the failings and imperfections that ufually attend perfons of the above defcription! LE KAIN, the late celebrated French Actor, was a retire M. SOUFFLOT, the Architect of that beautiful Chriftian Temple, the Church of St. Génévieve at Paris, the portico to which is the triumph of modern Greek Architecture, was a man of fuch a combination of benevolence and of trufquerie, that his friends ufed to call BOILEAU. him le Bourru bienfaifant." He did not live to finish the cupola of his church; and died in confequence of being too fer fibly affected by the difficulties that were thrown in his way, by fome ignorant perfons, refpe&ting the conftruction of it. The famous Hotel Dieu at Lyons was built by this great Architect. M. Soufflot is buried in his own fabric of Saint Génévieve, and a monument is about to be erected in it to his memory; an example worthy of imitation in this country, where Sir Chriftopher Wren, the Architect of St. Paul's, is buried in a fouterrain, with a quibbling Epitaph upon a farcophagus, which very few perfons DR. BENJAMIN FRANKLIN. It has been faid, upon the moft refpectable authority, that this great man, in spite of the treatment he met with in this country, was very anxious, before he left it, to settle the difputes between it and its Colonies. A no lefs refpectable autho.ity perfilts to fay, that a friend of Dr. Franklin's went to Lord North, at the Doctor's requifition, to folicit for him a place at the Board of Trade. This Lord North refufed; and the Gentleman faid to him, "My Lord, you had much better give Dr. Franklin the whole Board of Trade whe who vifit St. Paul's, that memorial of his genius, ever fee. The infide of the beautiful fabric of St. Génévieve, the National Affembly, with great wildom as well as with great good tafte, have dedicated to the fepulture of illuftrious perfons, to perfons "Qui fui memores alios fecere me"rendo," and have intended it as the Temple of Fame of Gallic Worthies. The illuftrious Chapter of St. Paul's appear to with to render inhumation in their magnificent Temple as honourable and as characteristic of well-merited diftinction, as they have refolved never to take any fees for this privilege, and never to allow it to any one for whofe monument there is not either a public fubfcription, or an order of Parliament; and they have voted the primitie of this honourable diftinction to commence with Dr. Johnson and Mr. Howard. M..Soufflot, whilft he was building Saint Génévieve, travelled to all the Gothic Cathedrals of France, and took great pains to get plans of thofe in other counties in order to affift him in the confruction of his iminente fabric, and adopted many of their contrivances, particularly that of hollowing out ftones, and afterwards cramping them with iron, to give lightnefs and ftrength to their buildings. The following tribute of praife to the artifices and ingenuity of construction of these skilful, though at prefent too much neglected, Architects, has been paid by that great master of his art, Sir William Chambers, in the additions to his third edition of his "Treatife on the decorative Part of Civil Architecture," juft published: "To thofe ufually called Gothic Architects we are indebted for the fint confiderable improvements in conftruction. There is a lightnefs in their works, an art and boldnefs of execution, to which the antients never arrived, and which the moderns comprehend and imitate with difficulty. England contains many magnificent examples of this fpecies of architecture equally admirable for the art with which they are built, as well as for the taste and ingenuity with which they are compofed. One cannot refrain from wishing, that the Gothic structures were more confidered, better understood, and in higher eftimation than they feem to have been. Would our Dilettanti, instead of importing the gleanings of Greece, or our Antiquarians, instead of publifhing loofe and incoherent prints, encourage perfons duly qualified to undertake a correct and ele gant publication of our own Cathedrals, and other buildings called Gothic, before they totally fali to ruin, it would be of real fervice to the arts of defign, it would preferve the remembrance of an extraordinary style of building new finking faft into oblivion, and at the fame time publish to the world the riches of Britain, in the fplendor of her ancient ftructures." DR. GOLDSMITH was not in general etteemed a man of much vigour or fpring of mind in converfation. He had, however, a wonderful felicity of application of paffages from the Claifics to things or perfons before him. Goldfmith had taken a trange dillike to the perfon of Captain, whom he thought a man of great ferocity of behaviour; when, however, he was told, that this was a mistake, and that he was be fides a man of letters and a fcholar, he replied," Then I am fure I was wrong for you know," "Ingenuas didiciffe fideliter artes, "Emollit mores, nec finit effe feros." That a man who had apparently fuch vacuity of mind, and fuch penury of intellect in company, thould tili be able to catch fo well the manners living as they rite" as he did, and display them with fuch exquifite humour and acuteness of obfervation as a writer, would appear very extraordinary, did we not know what contrarieties meet very often in the fame perfon, and how deficient and how ex cellent the fame perfon is in different things. Marthal Turenne could never learn to falute at the head of his regiment; and the great Lord Chatham's epiftolary correfpondence was bombaftical and confused. Several Effays of Dr. Goldfmith that were floating down the tide of oblivion have of the late ingenious Dr. Smollet and the been very lately, in conjunction with fome late learned Mr. Badcock that were in the fame fituation, been rescued from their obfcurity by the care and pains of an anonymous Editor, in two volumes 12mo. and appear extremely well to deferve the attention of the public. TRANSLATION of Dr. JOHNSON'S GREEK VERSES on Dr. GOLDSMITH. "Whoe'er thou art with rev'rence tread, "Where Goldimith's hallow'd duft is "laid. "If Nature, and th' hiftoric page, Lament |
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